The Shadow Stories part One: Every New Beginning
by Lady Memoria Greenleaf
Summary: This is a story which only uses the matrix as a backdrop. The main character is Shadow, a misunderstood woman who finds solstice in altering reality... really a fun story
1. Angela

A single tear ran down Angela's cheek as she switched off her laptop and stepped off the bus. Her amber brown eyes looked to the faded blue sky that seemed to match the colour of her broken soul. Her first serious boyfriend had left her, and in an email. He shattered the relationship like a dry twig in the dying autumn forest, and simply left her to her misery. There was no warning, no anger, no reason, and certainly no remorse. Just a simple "I think it would be best to end this here". With those few words he had taken the last two years of Angela's life; and Angela herself, and left them both at the curb to rot with yesterday's garbage.  
  
Her feet hit the curb just as the rain began. The entire city turned to ashen shades of black and gray as the rain touched its every facet. The skyline turned to so many dead embers. Clothed in her normal black coat, she felt like only a shadow in a world devoid of light. She glided like the specter of death itself towards her apartment, her niche in this giant cave full of vermin. Once she arrived on the fifth floor, she wondered once again why she even went on. Her lightest day and darkest hour were nothing more than shades of gray. This monotony, this drudgery, was this what life was meant to be? Same routine, day in and day out. Only now that Chris was gone, the daily grind held no meaning. Her family estranged, except for her sister, Janice. But she had gone missing three years ago, disappeared without a trace. Janice was the only one who even tried to understand Angela except Chris, but now even he had let her down.  
  
Angela turned the key in the lock, and entered her home. She needed to veg out, and keep her mind off recent events long enough to fall asleep and escape so-called reality for a while, so she flipped on the computer. The Internet provided her with the escape she needed, more real than drugs, and more permanent and than alcohol. She glanced at the headlines, and her mind jumped when she read the name Morpheus. A notion to find this man seized her mind. Some intuitive power told her this man may hold the answers. It was unexplainable, which is why Angela trusted it. All her life, there had been a nagging doubt. Did perception really equal reality? Why did wounds never hurt until you looked at them? Angela was almost sure that it was because the wound didn't become real until your mind made it so. She wished in vain for the ability to look away from her wounded heart forever.  
  
* two years later...*  
  
Angela, now 22 and considerably stronger, smarter, and richer, was still no closer to finding Neo and Morpheus than she was on the rainy June night when Chris had left her. Nobody called her Angela anymore, because nobody she knew now knew Angela was even her name. In her new trade, anonymity was most desirable.  
  
Soon after Chris left, she met a man who called himself Ice, and he had supplied her with a new name; Shadow. Six letters that meant nothing more than identification to her, or so she thought. Ice had helped make her one of the greatest mercenaries alive, or so she let him believe. Shadow knew the whole damn world was a hoax, a cruel joke, and a fallacy. She owed this realization to a moment of darkest anguish induced by her ex. This knowledge allowed her to see the world as it truly was. She could remake the laws of physics and any others for that matter, as she saw fit. Stopping bullets, freezing time, nullifying barriers of any kind were all standard tricks. Ice had no idea what she was truly capable of, and Shadow had no intention of telling him.  
  
However, for all her success, she could not find Neo, or get Chris off her mind. She thought herself pathetic for this senseless attachment to someone who had nearly destroyed her spirit, if such a thing existed. It must, for deep within her, she still loved him. A splinter in her mind, but not the only one. It was like this insane drive to find Neo, it simply would not let itself be forgotten. 


	2. Trinity?!

Where was this "Shadow"? Trinity had been assigned to find her, and hopefully unplug her, but she had no luck yet. As she was so resigned to saying "Another day, another dead end." However, she remained ever hopeful because this lead may be the one that finally lead her to this mysterious figure of seemingly no more substance than her name. It was a long shot, but she had been searching a long time.  
  
Shadow was just finishing her latest job, a heist. Ice had volunteered her services to another unnamed rich collector who was missing the Sword of Isis, an Egyptian relic from the days when their civilization was at its peak. To Shadow, it was a useless and ugly thing, covered with primitive symbols of a race barely above Neanderthals. What did it matter, of such unstable substance? She rearranged the atoms of the museum ceiling and fell through, floating a few feet above the sword's case. She set herself down silently, aware of the lasers, and allowing them to pass through her uninhibited. This was how she eluded the alarm systems. She reached through the case, and as soon as she did, it was no longer there, it had vanished. She held the sword up to the light. She wondered again why someone would pay so dearly for a mere trinket. Oh well, it was none of her concern.  
  
She slid through the museum floor and into the sewer pipes. She walked along to where she was to meet her contact. She preferred to travel hidden from view, either by underground means or literally. Suddenly, the contact came into view. A delicate woman, yet she was no shorter than Shadow herself. Either way, she was not on her own. Shadow was acutely aware of two others, both men, both hidden in the gloom near the woman, supposedly her backup. Light and darkness were simply two modes of the world. All things were like pixels on a screen: temporary and readily altered.  
  
Finally, the woman spoke "Shadow, I presume?" Shadow didn't answer, she simply held out the sword. At this, one of the men stepped into clear view. "Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real?" he asked. Shadow turned to face the bald African man, who stood on her right. He was an intimidating figure, standing several inches above Shadow's tiny frame, with frameless glasses covering his eyes. Combined with his bald head, he almost looked like Death.  
  
"No, only the innocent dream." Shadow replied flatly, trying to appear unfazed. As if on cue, the other man stepped into view on Shadow's left.  
  
"You are more innocent than you know...Angela" he said. The Caucasian man's mention of her former name sent shivers down her spine.  
  
"How do you know that name?" she asked, fear beginning to taint her voice.  
  
"We know a lot about you." The woman replied. Shadow tensed, ready to strike. These people evidently knew too much. "My name is Trinity" the woman continued. Shadow froze.  
  
The black man smiled "As you no doubt have guessed, I am Morpheus. This is Neo."  
  
He motioned to the other man, who asked "And you are...?"  
  
"Shadow" she said defensively  
  
Morpheus smiled knowingly "Neo here can stop bullets as well." Shadow's eyebrows arched slightly. She drew one of her twin Glock 9mm's and fired off several shots at Neo, who didn't even flinch as he waved them away. The hollow point rounds stopped in midair before falling to the ground at his feet. `Interesting, but how much so?' she thought.  
  
"Cute trick" Shadow said "but can you do this?" before she finished her question, she was invisible to everyone, even Neo who could see the code. Morpheus marveled silently at the strength of her mind, which she detached from her body at will and somehow remained alive. Such an impressive display was unheard of in the Matrix, especially for someone who was still plugged in. However, her physical attributes did not go unnoticed. Her dark eyes and even darker hair contrasted with her pale skin, at least what was visible. She was practically coated in black pleather. She even had a mask over her face from the nose down. And yet, she carried herself with a certain sadness, as if she didn't care if she lived or died. 


	3. Agents

Morpheus was brought back into reality by Neo's whisper "Agents! 2 of them, from that way" he pointed in the direction Shadow had come from. Trinity and Morpheus ran in the opposite direction as fast as they could. As they passed out of sight, two suits came into view. Shadow recognized them as the pathetic would-be assassins she had fended off so easily before. Janice had warned her about them before she went missing, and now it all made sense to her. The agents skidded to a stop when the saw Neo, hoping in vain they hadn't been seen. Neo was about to dissipate one of their programs when Shadow sensed a third going for Neo from behind.  
  
She became visible again and cried "Stop!" The 3 agents turned to face her "I'm the one you want!"  
  
The 3^rd agent's eyes widened "Who are you?"  
  
Shadow tore off her mask. "Chris?"  
  
He gasped "Angela! I--they told me you were dead" he stammered, obviously struggling to think up a believable lie. The truth was he knew about the agents, who now had him brainwashed beyond all hope of recovery. Shadow saw his only possible release from agenthood was death.  
  
Shadow's face darkened "They are correct. Angela died the night you left her!" Her voice echoed off the concrete walls of the giant pipe.  
  
The 1^st agent spoke "Agent 3, this is your final assignment: Kill her!"  
  
Shadow took a breath and whispered "My name, is SHADOW!" She jumped at him and entered his program. He dissipated in a flash of green light before he could even draw his gun. The other two agents ran. Shadow was only vaguely aware of their footsteps as they faded away. She fell to a kneel, dropping her head and shoulders down as well. Neo bent down beside her and lifted her chin with a lover's tenderness. Her black layers of hair were sweaty and wild, and her dark eyes held tears, where they waited to trace lines down her face.  
  
"You loved him?" It was more of a statement.  
  
"Yes" she replied blandly  
  
"Then why did you do it?" he asked. Shadow gently touched the ground where her beloved Chris had stood only minutes before.  
  
She looked up, into Neo's eyes and whispered "Because I had to." Then a single tear left her eye and rolled down her otherwise unchanged stone face. 


End file.
